How Long Does Laser Eye Surgery Take? Know What To Expect
Laser eye surgery is becoming a popular alternative to glasses and contact lenses. However, if you’re one to feel a little squeamish around the thought of an eye surgeon touching your eyes, you may be interested to find out how long does laser eye surgery take, and how quickly you can be out of there. For the answer to how long does laser eye surgery take and what else you should know about your laser vision correction procedure, keep reading.
What is Laser Eye Surgery?
Laser eye surgery is a form of surgical vision correction, a group of operations known as refractive surgery. Laser vision correction is not the only type of refractive surgery, however. There are also other types of procedures that do not utilise a laser, such as refractive lens exchange (RLE) or Implantable Collamer Lenses (ICL).
During laser eye surgery, the eye surgeon corrects your sight by reshaping the cornea. The cornea is the first surface of the eye responsible for bending light as it passes through. By changing the curvature of the cornea through selectively vaporising tissue with a laser, laser vision correction is able to correct the way light focuses through your eye.
How Long Does Laser Eye Surgery Take?
There are a few different types of laser eye surgery techniques, though the duration of each operation does not vary very dramatically between them. For any type of laser eye surgery, you should allow for up to 2 hours at the clinic. This gives the clinical team and your eye surgeon time to prepare you for the operation. Preparation involves numbing the eye with topical anaesthetic drops, getting you comfortable on the reclining chair, and inserting an instrument that will help you to keep your eyelids open.
LASIK is one of the better-known laser vision correction procedures. Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis requires your eye surgeon to cut a flap of the uppermost layers of corneal tissue. Once this flap is moved to the side, a femtosecond laser is used to reshape the exposed tissue. The flap is then later repositioned and allowed to self-seal. The amount of time you actually spend under the laser is proportionate to the amount of corneal tissue that needs to be reshaped; higher degrees of refractive error will take longer. However, most people are finished in under 10 minutes for both eyes.
PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) is another commonly performed laser eye surgery method. Unlike in LASIK, PRK doesn’t require the creation of a corneal flap. Instead, the top layers of cells are removed entirely, either through a chemical solution or a manual instrument. Removing these epithelial layers allows the laser to work on the underlying tissue. However, similar to LASIK, the whole procedure for PRK should only take around 10 minutes for both eyes. After the PRK laser vision correction procedure, the epithelium will regenerate.
A newer laser eye surgery technique is one known as small incision lenticule extraction, or SMILE. The SMILE operation has been hailed as a minimally invasive, one-step vision correction procedure. Unlike LASIK and PRK, the upper layers of the cornea are left intact. Instead, the laser is used to shape a disc from the deeper layers without needing to remove the outer tissue. This disc is then extracted from the eye through a keyhole incision, resulting in reshaping the cornea from within. The actual application of the laser tool during the operation is typically around 28 seconds per eye, however, the total time on the operating chair is around 20 minutes. This includes sterilising and anaesthetising the eyes, applying the laser, removing the disc, and completing the surgery.
How Long Does Laser Eye Surgery Take to Recover From?
Once your laser eye surgery procedure is complete, it can take some time for your sight to clear completely. The amount of time you will need to take off from your usual activities will depend on which laser vision correction procedure you had, and what your usual activities entail.
Activities that have a higher risk of causing a complication or eye infection will need to be avoided for a little longer. High-risk activities include swimming (due to risk of infection from the water), or sports with a likelihood of physical contact, such as martial arts or basketball. After undergoing PRK, you should expect to sit out on these activities for 2 to 4 weeks; for LASIK, expect to wait at least a month. Since SMILE is minimally invasive and retains better biomechanical stability of the eye, you can return to these activities within a week. If your occupation involves a risk of eye infection or injury, your recovery period will be similar to these time frames. High-risk occupations include the defence force and on-site construction work.
Though the idea of any procedure on the eye can be daunting, rest assured the time actually spent on the operating chair is very little. If you’re interested in laser eye surgery, speak to your local optometrist or eye surgeon on (03) 9070 5788 about your suitability.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
References
LASIK eye surgery.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cost-of-lasik-eye-surgery/about/pac-20384774#:~:text=LASIK%20surgery%20is%20usually%20completed,to%20hold%20your%20eyelids%20open.
Photorefractive Keratectomy Eye Surgery.
https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/eye-health-photorefractive-keratectomy-pr-eye-surgery#:~:text=to%20be%20postponed.-,What%20Happens%20During%20PRK%3F,top%20layer%20of%20your%20eye.
SMILE.
https://www.lasik.com.au/eye-treatment/smile/
How long does laser eye surgery take?
https://www.wefixeyes.co.nz/articles/smile-surgery-read-the-facts/#:~:text=For%20SMILE%20surgery%20only%20one,carry%20out%20than%20SMILE%20surgery
